Following the successful first Indo-German Start-up Bootcamp conducted in July 2016 in Berlin, GIZ together with their partners Bosch, World Resources Institute (WRI), Social Impact Lab, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and Intellecap are geared to conduct the second Indo-German Start-up Bootcamp which will take place in India and will bring together entrepreneurs from India and Germany to explore cooperation and grow their social impact.

The bootcamp will run for a period of 10 days between March 20, 2017 and March 29, 2017 at IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and Bosch Bangalore with social start-ups from Germany and India. The bootcamp has 10 spots (5 Indian start-ups and 5 German start-ups) for impact driven product/ service start-ups in the transport and mobility sector. The innovative product/service solution can be in the areas of light mobility, e-mobility, smart vehicles including two-wheeler, intelligent transport system, smart parking assists, last mile connection, mobility for physically challenged people, public transportation systems, etc.

India and Germany are keen to promote the (social) start-up eco-system along with its required support structure. International best practices suggest that there is a huge potential in involving the corporate sector in start-up incubation. An increasing number of corporates are looking into partnering with existing incubators. The reasons for these partnerships are manifold. While incubators look for mentors and expertise for their incubatees as well as potential customers, corporates engage with incubators to identify new innovative ideas as well as potential delivery channels that support access to markets in remote locations. However, capacities of Indian incubators to strategically engage with corporates persist to be weak. Additionally, for many corporates it remains difficult to identify appropriate engagement mechanisms, be it as part of their business development activities or as part of the new 2% CSR rule.

In order to address this gap, GIZ in cooperation with Bosch and Intellecap under the developPPP.de framework has initiated a Strategic Alliance with the objective to connect corporates with incubators and start-ups and especially social enterprises. The joint work under the alliance aims at creating an engagement mechanism, strengthening incubation capacities and creating opportunities for corporates to partner with innovative start-ups.

During this bootcamp, start-ups will have the opportunity to interact with corporates, mentors, technology experts, and other key stakeholders to develop their products or services further, validate business plans, exchange ideas, develop synergies, and build globally competitive businesses.All the programme related cost for the participant (1 from each selected start-up) will be borne by GIZ India.Applications are open till 25th January 2017 (23:59 CET).